Page 26 of The Chosen Fae

Then they shifted into their wolves and began eating the fish, starving and enjoying the flavor. It was really meaty and not bony.

They only paused to smile at each other. They had done it! Though the others might have already found a fish to take in.

Then they glanced around and saw Iris running toward them. So now she realized they had caught the fish.

The other fae started following her. But when the other wolves came in to eat, Stone took on his fiercest stance, growling and snarling, daring them to come any closer.

Rune and Lolita kept eating, letting him do all the growling.

Rune was happily eating away when Stone began to take his fill again. Stuffed, she kept eating to ensure she had a sufficient reserve. Stone ate way more than she did, though pounds of meat were left. Still, it was their catch, their territory, and so even after he finished eating, he and Rune watched over their treasure, not allowing the others to eat until they said so. Lolita ate some, not enough to really fill her up, then she sat nearby to see what would happen next.

Finally, Rune shifted into her fae and walked over to a bed of leaves in the jungle, out of sight of the feasting wolves. Not wanting to look like Stone was with Rune, he finally growled one last time at the other wolves, then shifted and took an alternate path to join Rune.

The other wolves immediately began snarling and snapping at each other, trying to show who was more alpha and to back off from the fish until they had their share next.

Rune was lounging on her bed of leaves, and without her permission, Stone circled through the jungle to lie down next to her. She didn’t object.

“You were amazing,” she finally said. “I never would have managed severing the fish’s spinal cord as you did.”

“It took me forever.” Stone didn’t feel amazing. He should have put the fish down well before he’d become so exhausted, only able to hang on until he could finally bite down hard enough to kill the fish.

“Sorry that I lost his tail so many times.”

Stone smiled. “You had the hardest part, as much as he was whipping his whole body around to free himself. I wouldn’t have done any better.”

“We did well.”

The wolves’ growls continued off down by the river.

“We did. But I am the Chosen One,” Stone said, more in a humorous way now.

She sighed. “And I beg to differ.”

When she woke in the morning, expecting Stone to be by her side, he was gone. She loved the challenge and loved that they had accomplished it together. But most of all, she loved that he had joined her to praise her and stay with her for a while afterward.

That morning they were returned to the gaming quarters, had breakfast, showered, and dressed. The Game Master told everyone, “Since Stone, Rune, and Lolita captured the pirarucu, they won the challenge. It was amazing that they could do that on their own without any teamwork from the rest of the competitors. I am disappointed that the others didn’t help with this dangerous task, but I'm proud of the three winners for letting the others feast on the fish after they ate their fill. That’s a pack leader’s way.”

Then the Game Master vanished, and it was time for the next competition. This time the fae competitors were brought to a large room, maybe 3,000 square feet, but they had no idea what they were supposed to do here.

“An escape room!” Silas said, guessing, though no one had said anything about it being that kind of a challenge.

The tangle of rock and concrete, a prison of sorts for the fae. Irregular blocks of gray concrete and jagged rocks with flat tops of all different sizes, from small at a foot in height to six feet tall. But the fifteen-foot ceiling with its unreachable vents offered the promise of escape.

The vents were dusty, large enough for the wolves to climb through if they could reach them. A water line could be seen close to the ceiling, maybe only half a foot from the top, which told them that when the building began filling up with water, it could reach that far.

The concrete walls were covered with painted frescoes of all kinds of fae—including animal representations—like scorpions, hawks, dragons—as well as piles of gold, lakes, rivers, and forests. They were beautiful, but they hid the separations in the concrete blocks that might reveal ways out.

There were no obvious clues, symbols, buttons, or furnishings like in a regular escape room that Lolita had told them about on one of her pack trips to the human world.

“You should never have been selected to come to the gaming facility to fight for the honor to lead the packs,” Pari said as the other fae stood with her, facing Rune down. Lolita was with them, but standing more in the background. Stone knew she didn’t feel the same way. “You’re not a leader. You play your own game, as a lone wolf would.”

Stone leaned against a large stone in the room, with all kinds of obstacles strewn about. He wondered what the goal of this game was. King of the Mountain? An alpha wolf would often take the highest point to prove he was in charge, watching his people, making sure they stayed safe and did what he expected of them. If it wasn’t an escape room challenge.

There was no figuring out what it was all about.

Pari poked her finger at Rune’s chest, getting more aggressive. “You’re not going to win. Maeve should have ended you when she had the chance.”

Rune knocked Pari’s hand away. Pari tried to strike Rune in the face. Rune grabbed her shoulders and kicked her leg behind Pari and shoved her hard. Pari fell backward onto her butt. Man, that made Pari mad.